Combined prism and ornamental glass



(Model.)

H. F. BELGHBR. COMBINED PRISM AND ORNAMENTAL GLASS.

No. 586,226. Patented July 18,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT rricn.

HENRY F. BE JOIIER, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE LUXFER PRISMPATENTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMBINED PRISM AND ORNAM ENTAL GLASS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 586,226, dated July 13,1897.

Application filed April 19, 1897. Serial No. 682,702. (MozieL) To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. BELCHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Prism andOrnamental Glass, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the combination of prism lights or plates andornamental or stained glass windows for the purpose of securing new anddifferent effects in the form of ornamental glass. For example, by myi11- vention I may vary the shading, so as to pr0- duce in any givenportion of a window higher lights, thus bringing out dark objects; or Imay produce a regular variation in color or.

shade from one part of the stained or ornamental window to another; or Imay leave a part of the window in obscurity or in its natural conditionand throw an increased illumination over another part; or I may securenew effects by superimposing pieces of glass of different colors andassociating therewith the prisms to increase the volume of light; and Imay secure new colors or shades not otherwise easily attainable.

The attempt to secure variation in color or shade by placing one coloredglass over another results, of course, in reducing the volume of light,and hence destroying the effect which otherwise would be produced. I bythe use of the prisms can overcome this defeet, and can secure therequired volume of light. The prisms themselves may be colored. Ofcourse it would be impossible, certainly impracticable, to exhibit allof the va rious uses to which my invention can be put, and I haveattempted to do no more in this application than simply to illustrate,as it were, my invention.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a per spective view of astained-glass window and a partly-filled prism-window separated fromeach other, so as to illustrate the invention; and Fig. 2 is a sectionthrough the two when in permanentposition.

A is the frame of a stainechglass window; B, the frame of a prism windoiY O and E, bodies of non prismatic glass.

D, D, D D D and I) are prism-lights one above the other, and joinedtogether to make the prism-plate.

F F are hinges whereby the two windows may be hinged together.

G illustrates the effect produced on the stained-glass window bythelight from the strip of prisms in the prism-window.

H indicates the colored design worked into the stained-glass window.

J is the metal framing or lead by which the parts of the stained-glasswindow are secured together.

Obviously it is impossible to properly illustrate the differences in thecolors, but the window of the frame A is intended to be any stained orcolored glass window in which designs are produced, and in such a windowthere is of course variation in the color and the translucency asbetween the different parts of the window. In like manner it isdifficult to illustrate all the variations of the prisms. There may be agreater or less area of prism-glass, and the angles may vary, and theprisms themselves might in some instances be colored, and the varioussections of prisms and stained glass can be united in any desiredmanner. It frequently happens that in stained-glass windows an effectcomposed of dark shadows with brilliant illuminations is desired. Forexample, it might be anticipated that in stained-glass windows it wouldbe desirable to have a scene somewhat dark and forbidding on sea or landwith a brilliant burst of light issuing from some particular point-t.e., the sky.

New in the art of stained glass as it has existed up to the present timesuch effects have been attempted to be produced by the coloring of theglass itself, and in many instances this has proven to be not onlydifficult, but impossible to accomplish. By my invention it will be seenthat the artistavails himself not only of the coloring of the glass, butalso of the daylight,which he, so to speak, scatters .or concentratesupon or about his window in such manner as to cooperate with his stainedglass and contribute to the result desired. Some of the most beautifulstainedglass windows in the cathedrals of Europe have been practicallydead to the world for centuries because of the insufficiency of thelight behind them. These prisms will bring such obscure pictures intobold relief and contribute not only to the illumination of the church,but will also at the same time exhibit t0 the world the masterpieces inthe stained-glass work.

In the figures I have shown that the prismplate and the stained-glasswindows may be separated from each other or be separable, and I mean bythis view to suggest that many of these effects which I have describedwould be greatlyheightened or improved by separating the prism-platefrom the stained glass by a considerable distance. Moreover, this sepa'ation is necessary in some cases, particularly where the stained-glasswindow is placed in an interior wall and the exterior wall is removedtherefrom. This is a common occurrence in church architecture. Astainedglass window thus has to take its light from a secondary source,and by placing prism-lights in the outside or exterior wall andarranging the angles properly the light maybe concentrated upon suchinterior stained-glass window and the desired result be attained.

The figures also indicate that one window may be movable with referenceto the other, so that by varying the position of: the prismplates, forexample, from time to time, with the change in the position of the sunor the variations in the seasons, or when a particular result desired issought for at a particular hour of the day, we may, so to speak, controlthe window to make it respond to such varying requirements.

I wish to suggest again that in asubjcct so broad and interesting it isonly possible for me to make, as it were, a few passing sugges tionstouching the use and operation of my invention.

I claim The combination of a stained-glass window with varying colorsand varying degrees of transluccncy, with a prism-plate windowcomprising a transparent body having a series of prisms on one sidesystematically arranged to produce an increasedilluminating effect andadapted to receive the light from without, bend the rays and direct themupon the stained-glass window in a predetermined manner to vary theeffects produced by the stained-glass window.

HENRY F. BEILIIERL \Vitncsses:

DONALD )l. CARTER, BERIHA 0. Sins.

